Bitten by recession: Crisis as hundreds of pets are abandoned

These four puppies are among hundreds of unwanted pets dumped across the region – victims of the recession and unwanted Christmas presents. Warrington's RSPCA animal centre is looking after up to 100 unwanted pets.

The abandoned German Shepherd puppies are doing well after being found dumped at a stables

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

These four puppies are among hundreds of unwanted pets dumped across the region – victims of the recession and unwanted Christmas presents.

The German Shepherd pups were discovered when a horse rider went to clean out stables in Winwick, Warrington.

The dogs, two male and two female, are believed to be up to four months old and were underweight at around four kilos.

They are recovering at the town’s RSPCA animal centre, which is looking after up to 100 abandoned pets.

Centre manager Chris Walkden, 53, said: “We have vaccinated them, warmed them up and fed them up. They were a little bit skinny.

“They are fine now. They are happy and coming on well. We’re giving them some TLC. They’ll be here for another week and then we’ll be looking for new homes for them.

“I just don’t understand why people would do this. When we found them they were not in a very good condition.

“Maybe they were the last of a litter and they couldn’t get rid of the last four.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and I never get used to it. I don’t know why someone would do this when there’s help out there.

“I suppose people get desperate but I would rather they went through the proper channels than just dump them.

“In the first half-an-hour of us opening up after Christmas, we had six phone calls about unwanted dogs. In December alone, we had 54 dogs. It probably gets worse in a recession and people start to cut back.”

The RSPCA received 709 calls about abandoned animals across the north last month.